Former US President Donald Trump blamed his successor, Joe Biden, for the Taliban’s military advances in Afghanistan on Thursday, August 12, calling the situation “unacceptable.”
“If I were president now, the world would know that our withdrawal from Afghanistan was subject to conditions. It would have been a much different withdrawal and a much more successful withdrawal and the Taliban knew that better than anyone.
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“I have personally had talks with Taliban leaders who understood that what they are doing today would not have been tolerated,” Donald Trump said in a statement.
The Taliban took the strategic city of Ghazni, 150 kilometres southwest of Kabul, on Thursday, then Herat, the country’s third-largest city, and they are dangerously close to the capital of Afghanistan after seizing most of the country’s northern half in a matter of days.
Donald Trump, who lost the election in November but remains a force in the Republican Party, did not say how he would have stopped the insurgents from advancing.
Under his authority, the United States signed an agreement with the Taliban on February 29, 2020, in which Washington committed to withdrawing all American forces from Afghanistan by May 1, 2021.
In exchange, the Taliban agreed to enter into peace talks with the Afghan government, to refrain from attacking American forces and interests in Afghanistan, and to sever all ties with Al-Qaeda.
Following the signing of this agreement, the Trump administration significantly reduced the US military presence in Afghanistan and pledged to meet the May 1 deadline for complete withdrawal from the country.
After the November election, the United States continued to reduce its military presence in Afghanistan, and when Joe Biden took office on January 20, only 2,500 US servicemen and 16,000 civilian auxiliaries remained.
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When Joe Biden arrived at the White House, he suspended withdrawal operations to give himself time to assess the situation, and in April he confirmed the full military withdrawal from Afghanistan. The date had been pushed back to September 11th, then to August 31st.
